2020, Wrapped

Flickr/DeviantArt/Instagram description: My church small group asked us to share a photo that describes what we were thankful for in 2020, and what we're hopeful for in 2021.

I'm thankful for, funny enough, the fact that my plans at the start of the year were shattered by the pandemic. It was God's way of closing the door in my face and opening a window behind me. That window was to my own neighbourhood, which I had lived in for almost 14 years and yet still knew very few people within. I'm thankful for the new opportunities I got this year despite our situation.

Hope, to me, is continuing to see the good in even the most dire of situations. This requires that you be able to see past the present and understand how your past and current situations shape the future and build you up.

Hope in 2020 was being able to find new ways to grow in this strange period of history. It was about remaining open-hearted and open-minded to different possibilities rather than just moping around and complaining about the halcyon days of the past long gone.

Hope in 2021 is about reflecting on what 2020 has brought to us\u2014unpredictability. In light of an uncertain future, God gives us two options: Trust Him, or Leave Him.

At the start of 2020 I had been preoccupied with trying to get out of my neighbourhood. The pandemic was like a landslide covering the road ahead of me. I had to choose between holding on to the steering wheel, or letting Him drive, so I chose the latter. He turned the car around, drove back to where I came from, and then made me walk. I realized that He placed me in this neighbourhood for a reason, and taught me so many lessons I wouldn't have learned otherwise.

Hope led me to realize that even within my own neighbourhood, there was still a community out there that let me know I wasn't alone.

So yeah. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and be thankful for all of the little things in your life. Just like how Jesus, God Himself, came to earth as a little baby.

Date Taken: Dec 17, 2020, 10:25:48 AM EST

Camera: Nikon D700

Lens: AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G

Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec (0.02 sec)

Aperture: f/2

ISO Speed: 200

Focal Length: 50mm (fixed)

Flash: Off, did not fire

HDR: Three exposures used